High heat and drought present home owners with a Sophie’s Choice: Which plants deserve to live, and which should die? Here’s how to choose.

Drought and community-imposed restrictions that limit the amount of water you can use for landscaping and gardening may force you to make tough decisions about which plants to save and which to sacrifice.

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2. How Valuable Is This Plant?

The longer a tree or shrub takes to grow, the more valuable it is. Fast-growing pines, for instance, can quickly replace older pines sacrificed to drought; slow-growing American beeches take years to mature and are more difficult to replace.

3. Does This Plant Anchor My Landscaping Plan?

If a dogwood, for instance, is the focal point of your yard, water it first. Easily replaced foundation plants should fall lower on your watering list.

4. Does This Plant Save or Cost Me Money?

Let go of water-guzzling perennials and replace them with drought-resistant varieties, such as ornamental grasses and lavender.

5. Does This Plant Have Sentimental Value?

Have a tree your kids loved to climb? Water plants and trees that are the stuff of memories.

6. How Healthy Is This Plant?

Sacrifice old and sick plants already close to the end of life. However, newly-planted trees and shrubs require frequent watering. So if water is restricted, you might have to sacrifice them for middle-aged trees that have a fighting chance of survival.

Tips on How to Keep Your Chosen Plants Alive

1. Protect tree feeder roots by watering around the tree’s drip line (from the trunk to the end of the leaf canopy). Dig down 1 ft. to make sure the soil is moist, but not soggy. When the soil dries out, water again with a drip hose.

2. Bulbs are less vulnerable to drought than other perennials, but will die under extreme heat. Cover bulbs with 3-4 inches of an airy mulch, such as cedar, which holds moisture and moderates soil temperature.

3. Water perennials, annuals, and container plants with greywater from your shower, bath, or kitchen sink. Use biodegradable bath and dish soap, which won’t hurt plants. Never water plants with greywater containing bleach.

4. Spread only 2-3 inches of mulch around (but not touching) shrub and tree trunks. If you add too much mulch, roots will grow up and into the mulch, becoming more vulnerable to heat.

5. Move containers into the shade or bring them indoors. Water with greywater.

is an award-winning, Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer who contributes to real estate and home improvement sites. In her spare time (yeah, right!), she gardens, manages three dogs, and plots to get her 21-year-old out of her basement.